Motorola Is Now Supplying Original Repair Parts

Historically phone companies have wanted to stop customers from fixing their phones or going to a third-party repair store, as this reduces the number of new phone sales. Motorola, in a partnership with the famous repair guide website iFixit, is now moving in the opposite direction by offering clients repair toolkits.

These toolkits allow clients to replace their phone batteries and even broken screens. The kits range between $40 to $200 and include key replacement parts — a battery or a display and digitizer, and many of the specialty tools needed to complete the repair, like angled tweezers and screw bits.

To make this process as simple as possible the company also developed online step-by-step guides to replace the parts.

According to iFixit, Motorola is the “first major smartphone manufacturer ever” to supply official parts for alternative repair options and open up to partnerships with big names of the independent repair industry, with a more receptive attitude.

It is important to note a few caveats here. First, the phone warranty might be voided if a customer attempts a repair and messes up, despite using official parts. Also, the official Motorola repair kits are more expensive than those offered by iFixit. A battery replacement kit for an iPhone costs $29 and screen replacement kit costs $70. The ones sold by Motorola will cost $40 and $100, respectively.

iFixit’s website has 17 Motorola repair kits listed, covering devices including the Moto Z Force, Z Play, Droid Turbo 2, G5, and G4. This is the first time we see a major manufacturer offering customers the possibility to fix their own devices, especially when you see so many companies making this process as difficult as possible.

For repair stores, this is good news because now technicians can work with original repair parts when fixing customers’ phones. On the other hand, this could potentially see a decrease in repairs once customers can now try to repair the phones themselves. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think you will see fewer Motorola phones in your shop, or do you think most people will mess up while trying to repair and end up at your door anyway? Leave your opinion on the comments below!